Juristac ?Huris-tak? is located near Gilroy, California, south of the Santa Cruz Mountains, on the confluence of the Pajaro and San Benito rivers, in the heart of the ancestral lands of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, where for thousands of years, their ancestors ??Mutsun lived and held sacred ceremonies in this place, before the arrival of the Spanish.
The indigenous people of these regions were taken to the missions of San Juan Bautista and Santa Cruz, where 4,540 acres in this area were later converted into a private ranch, called Rancho Juristac or La brea.
In the current era, a San Diego-based group of investors purchased the land at bankruptcy auction and is currently seeking to develop a 403-acre open pit sand and gravel mining operation over a 30-year operating period on the property.
The plan includes a 62-acre processing plant area, three open pit quarries up to 250 feet deep, a 1.6-mile-long conveyor belt and a 22-foot-wide access road.
An estimated 40 million tons of sand and gravel aggregates will be produced over the life of the mine, primarily for use in local road construction and general construction.
For the property owner, Debt Acquisition Company of America ?DACA?, the quarry project is an opportunity for financial gain.
Doing business as Sargent Ranch Partners LLC, DACA retained a Palo Alto-based firm, Freeman Associates LLC, to guide the proposal through Santa Clara County's planning and environmental review process.
But this area is not only considered sacred to the Amah Mutsun, the project would remove approximately 400 acres of upland habitat for the California Red-legged Frog and California Tiger Salamander, both of which are federally listed as Threatened. , while also degrading breeding habitat in ponds adjacent to quarry operations.
The loss of grasslands would also affect the American badger, a California-listed species of "Special Concern"; as are birds of prey that forage in the area, such as the golden eagle, northern harrier, prairie hawk, and burrowing owl.
In addition, approximately 29 acres of California oak forest, a valuable resting and feeding habitat for many native species, would be destroyed, while raising concerns about the quarry's water use for extraction and dust control.
Currently, the County of Santa Clara and its consultants are reviewing and will prepare responses to all comments submitted on the draft Environmental Impact Report "EIR", which they will revise based on the comments received.
We do not know how many months it will take the county to undertake the project. There is a petition to stop the construction of this quarry and currently more than 18 thousand signatures have been gathered.
If you are interested in finding out more and joining this petition, we leave you the link you can access the website https://www.protectjuristac.org/petition/, while for more information to protect Juristac access https://www.protectjuristac.org/petition/.
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